Black Maple

08/04/2025

Jamaica Sells Well…Just Maybe Not for Returnees
FEATURES July 28th, 2025 , Black Maple,
-By Audrey Arthurs

Jamaica’s stunning beauty and rich culture continue to attract tourists and inspire pride — but for many returning residents, the reality is far more complicated. In this compelling article, Audrey Arthurs explores the roots of violence, political corruption, and social instability in Jamaica. From systemic trauma, political violence, and economic hardship to the dangers facing returnees, Arthurs paints a sobering portrait of a nation in crisis — and a call for compassion, reform, and healing.

Read the full article
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/jamaica-sells-welljust-maybe-not-for-returnees/
































CBC
The Guardian
Statista
Wilberforce Institute
University of Hull
of Pennsylvania Press
Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Gazette
University of Miami Libraries
Gleaner
BlackPast.org
Library of Jamaica
Jamaica Labour Party
Jamaica Information Service
Mayo Clinic
The Jamaica Observer
RUSI - Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studiescom
Network
Psychology Today
University of New Brunswick

By Audrey Arthurs   Construction is everywhere. New hotels quickly erected, investment condominiums ubiquitous, and Air BnB’s in abundance because Jamaica caters exceptionally well to tourists. Despite the numerous travel...

07/27/2025

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Destination Wedding (2025)
- THE POP LIST July 26th, 2025, Black Maple

Sun, secrets, and serious side-eye. Tyler Perry’s beloved matriarch Madea is back — and this time, she’s heading to the Bahamas for a destination wedding full of mayhem, money, and meddling mamas. When Tiffany’s picture-perfect wedding starts falling apart thanks to a seemingly shady fiancé, a controlling mother, and a trust fund twist, it’s up to Madea (and her signature uncensored wisdom) to save the day. Packed with tropical chaos, hilarious one-liners, and unexpected heart, this latest chapter in the Madea universe delivers both laughs and life lessons.

Weddings are hard. Family is harder. Paradise optional. Read the full article below
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/tyler-perrys-madeas-destination-wedding-2025/




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Netflix
Tyler Perry
Taja V Simpson

07/19/2025

Dexter: Resurrection (2025)
-THE POP LIST July 12th, 2025, Black Maple
Showtime, Paramount Plus; in Canada on Paramount Plus

Just when we thought Dexter: New Blood was his final chapter, Dexter Morgan awakens from a coma — very much alive but haunted by his past. Visited by ghosts, stalked by justice, and driven by the need to save his son. The Bay Harbor Butcher is back in a chilling new twist that redefines what it means to be human, haunted, and… heroic?

Dexter: Resurrection (2025) takes us to the next chapter of television’s most oddly lovable serial killer. If you’ve ever rooted for Dexter (and maybe questioned your morals while doing so), you’ll want to read this.

Grab the popcorn. The dark passenger rides again.
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/dexter-resurrection-2025/





























Showtime Networks
Paramount+
Dexter on Showtime
Michael C Hall
Krysten Ritter
Uma Thurman
David Magidoff
John Lithgow
Neil Patrick Harris
Steve Schirripa
David Dastmalchian
Julie Benz

07/19/2025

Touch
-FEATURES July 13th, 2025, Black Maple
By Charmaine A. Nelson

In a world flooded with screens, swipes, and AI-generated lovers, we’re slowly forgetting the oldest language of all — human touch. From a mother cradling her newborn to lovers wrapped in each other’s arms, touch is not just comfort — it’s survival.

Read the full article
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/touch/
































Charmaine A. Nelson
Slavery North
UMass Amherst Department of History of Art and Architecture
UMass Amherst
College of Humanities & Fine Arts at UMass Amherst
New York Post
Bedbible
Medium
National Post
*xually Transmitted Diseases Journal
NCBI - National Center for Biotechnology Information
Psychology Today
Stanford Medicine

07/09/2025

Unboxing our 2024 Davey Awards!

We're proud to have won 9 awards recognizing the outstanding work of Black Maple Magazine.

General-Arts, Gold 2024
General-Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Silver 2024
General-Community, Silver 2024
General-Magazine, Silver 2024
Features-Best Visual Appeal - Aesthetic, Gold 2024
General-Health & Health Services, Gold 2024
General-Social Good, Silver 2024
General-Education, Silver 2024
General-Blog, Silver 2024





























Davey Awards
UMass Amherst Department of History of Art and Architecture
UMass Amherst
Charmaine A. Nelson
Slavery North
College of Humanities & Fine Arts at UMass Amherst

07/02/2025

Black Canadian Men Shine in the 2025 NBA Finals
-THE POP LIST June 25th, 2025, Black Maple

The NBA Finals brought the drama this year — heartbreak, heroics, and history in the making. Although our beloved Raptors did not make the playoffs, there was still plenty to celebrate. We experienced Boston loyalty, Pacer pride, and the unstoppable rise of Canadian brilliance. From Nembhard’s dazzling D to S.G.A. making MVP history, Black Canadian men came to shine on the world’s biggest basketball stage — and we’re not done celebrating! 🏆🇨🇦

Read the full article
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/black-canadian-men-shine-in-the-2025-nba-finals/






























Charmaine A. Nelson
Slavery North
NBA
Oklahoma City Thunder
ESPN
Stephen Curry
Indiana Pacers
Toronto Raptors
Canada Basketball
New York Knicks
Boston Celtics
LeBron James
Magic Johnson
Jaylen Brown
Al Horford
Jayson Tatum
Pascal Siakam
FIBA
Allen Iverson

06/25/2025

Sinners (2025)
-THE POP LIST June 13th, 2025, Black Maple

In theaters April 18, 2025; Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, HBO Max

From the visionary mind of Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan comes Sinners (2025): a genre-defying, soul-shaking, horror-musical like nothing you’ve ever seen! Set in the Jim Crow South, twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore open a nightclub haunted by demons. With ancestral spirits, forbidden love, killer music, and white demons lurking outside, Sinners is a wild fusion of horror, history, and soul-stirring music.
































Interested? Read the full article: Spoilers ahead!
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/sinners-2025/

Prime Video
Apple TV
Michael B Jordan
Hailee Steinfeld
Delroy Lindo
Lola Kirke
Saul Williams
Maldonado - Actor
Banks
Theodus Crane

You might recognize the name Ryan Coogler from breakout hits like Fruitvale Station (2013), inspirational dramas like Creed (2015), and game changing superhero action movies like Black Panther (2018). But...

06/25/2025

Straw (2025)
- THE POP LIST June 15th, 2025, Black Maple

June 6, 2025 Netflix

What is the cost of compassion in a world that keeps saying no? What happens when a hardworking black mother reaches her breaking point? Tyler Perry’s Straw (2025) is a gripping, emotional rollercoaster anchored by a powerhouse performance from Taraji P. Henson. This film is raw, real, and painfully timely, a must-watch story about survival, injustice, and the cost of being unheard.

Click the link below to read more about this heart wrenching story
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/straw-2025/






























Netflix
Taraji P. Henson
Teyana Taylor
Sinbad
Rockmond Dunbar
Merrill
shaletmonique
Purcell
Jackson

06/18/2025

Dying for S*x
-THE POP LIST June 1st, 2025, Black Maple

FX on Hulu; in Canadian on Disney +

"Dying for S*x" isn’t about dying—it’s about truly living. Set against the vibrant backdrop of NYC, this bold and irreverent series flips the script on illness narratives, spotlighting a woman who reclaims joy, sexuality, and self in the face of terminal illness. Darkly funny, raw, and refreshingly original.

Don’t you usully have the link here and say “Read the Article”? Read the full article here
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/dying-for-sex/

*x










*xualReawakening
*xAndHealing













Hulu
FX Networks
Disney+

When we first meet Molly Kochan (Michelle Williams) she’s in a therapy session with her husband Steve (Jay Duplass). She is timid, distant, and distracted, talking more to herself in...

06/11/2025

The Four Seasons
- THE POP LIST May 18th, 2025, Black Maple Magazine

The Four Seasons (2025) is a heartfelt, sharply funny, and emotionally rich dramedy about love, marriage, and friendship at mid-life. Set entirely during seasonal getaways and family gatherings, the series deliberately places work and career in the background, allowing space for intimate, revealing moments of connection—and conflict—among a lifelong group of friends. Through breakups, breakthroughs, awkward vow renewals, theatre cringe-fests, and even tragedy, the show explores the evolving dynamics of relationships with warmth, wit, and honesty. Winter, spring, summer, or fall — these are the friends worth spending time with.

Now streaming on Netflix.

Read the full article here.
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/the-four-seasons/










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*xAndTheCityVibes

Netflix

Winter, spring, summer, and fall, come rain or come shine, at home or abroad, Anne and Nick, Kate and Jack, and Danny and Claude, get together. Of the three married...

06/11/2025

Boston’s Revolutionary Spirit of Reparations
-FEATURES May 14th, 2025, Black Maple
By Julia Jorati and David Montero

“In 1773, a group in Boston led by Felix Holbrook submitted a revolutionary petition to the Massachusetts governor and legislature. Holbrook was an African-born black man who had been enslaved by a Boston schoolmaster since childhood. The petition asks the government to free all enslaved people in the province and pay reparations in the form of land to each of them, for the injustice they have suffered. Holbrook’s petition, which was taken up twice in the legislature, did not result in reparative compensation, but it firmly embedded the appeal of reparations within the moral fabric of the nation”

Read the full article written by Julia Jorati and David Montero, fellows at Slavery North, a research initiative at UMass Amherst that supports research and research creation on Canadian Slavery and Slavery in the US North.
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/bostons-revolutionary-spirit-of-reparations/
































Charmaine A. Nelson
Slavery North
UMass Amherst Department of History of Art and Architecture
UMass Amherst
College of Humanities & Fine Arts at UMass Amherst
Oxford Academic (Oxford University Press)
Penguin Random House
Hachette Book Group
PBS
FRONTLINE | PBS
Harvard University
Brown University
Roanoke College
McGill University

By Julia Jorati and David Montero In 1773, a group in Boston led by Felix Holbrook submitted a revolutionary petition to the Massachusetts governor and legislature. Holbrook was an African-born...

06/11/2025

G20 (2025)
-THE POP LIST, May 9th, 2025 , Black Maple

Did we ever think we’d see the day when America (or Canada) would have a black female running the show? While we didn’t quite get there with former Vice President Kamala Harris, we can celebrate that in the fictionalized world of Hollywood this long overdue moment of equal opportunity for equal accomplishment, experience, and general badass-ness (yes, that’s a word!) has arrived. Enter G20 (2025), the action-thriller from producer, star, and Oscar-winner Viola Davis. Directed by Patricia Riggen and co-produced by co-stars Anthony Anderson and Ramón Rodríguez the film follows Davis’s American President Danielle Sutton as she travels to a G20 summit in South Africa and foils a terrorist plot.

Read the full article
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https://blackmaplemagazine.com/articles/g20-2025/






























Prime Video
Viola Davis
Marsai Martin
Anthony Anderson
Ramon Rodriguez
Sabrina Impacciatore
Clark Gregg
Ali Suliman - علي سليمان
Halle Berry

Did we ever think we’d see the day when America (or Canada) would have a black female running the show? While we didn’t quite get there with former Vice President...